Every holiday season since 1971 when I hear John and Yoko Lennon and
those adorable children's voices from the Harlem Community Choir singing
Happy Xmas (War Is Over) "if you want it," I think to myself,
"If only it were so." Forty years later professor Joshua Goldstein,
author of the just released Winning the War on War: The Decline of Armed Conflict Worldwide,
tells me it may be true after all: "War among human beings is not
inevitable. Rather, the end of war, though also not inevitable, is
possible."

How is the end of war possible? Dr. Goldstein's research
demonstrates that the common thinking that wars are increasing and
becoming more brutal is a myth. Even with attacks in Afghanistan, the
Yemen uprising, and Libyan rebels fighting under NATO airstrikes he states,

Based on these headlines, you might assume that war around
the world is worse than it's ever been. But the reality is just the
opposite -- armed conflict is decreasing. Fewer wars are starting, more
are ending, and those that remain are smaller and more localized than
in past years. The decade since 9/11 has been the most peaceful
worldwide in the past century. No national armies are fighting each
other in the world today.

So how does this information help us end the wars that are still
raging? Dr. Goldstein's research shows us which strategies have worked
to reduce past conflicts enabling us to know which ones to employ and
support in the future. During a National Public Radio interview,
he pointed out that despite the fact that the United Nations'
peacekeeping efforts are successful (when properly funded) the average
American household is paying $700 a month on defense and only $2 on
peacekeeping. The impact of increasing this amount to just $4 could be
dramatic.

The possibility of an end to war is not something to be
ridiculed, but to be pursued. I hope that this story... ultimately about
peace, will inspire readers to see... through the continuing fog of
war...our best qualities as human beings: our ability to communicate, to
empathize, to cooperate, and to create a safer, freer, more prosperous
world for our children.

And I hope that the United Nations' International Peace Day on
September 21st finds us closer to the end of war. Just perhaps, "out of
the edge of darkness, there rides a peace train."

Colleen Turner, Ph.D. is a communications analyst, trainer, coach, and speaker who focuses on transformational communications. She is a retired U.S. Air Force Reserve Lieutenant Colonel who has designed and evaluated terrorist defense scenarios and (more...)